According to Google, “…we will be expanding our use of mobile-friendliness as a ranking signal. This change will affect mobile searches in all languages worldwide and will have a significant impact in our search results. Consequently, users will find it easier to get relevant, high quality search results that are optimized for their devices.”

Google will continue to use other factors in ranking search results, so high quality content pages which are not mobile-friendly, could still get a high ranking. Rankings are page-level, and mobile-friendly pages on a site will get higher rankings than non-mobile-friendly pages.

The rollout begins on April 21st, and will take approximately one week for all sites to be indexed by Google. Every time a website is crawled and indexed, Google will determine its mobile-friendliness. Pages can be tested using this mobile-friendly testing tool from Google.

Luxembourg has the highest number of per capita developers – 39.8 per 1000 people. The US accounts for 25% of the traffic to Stack Overflow, with India second at 12.5%.

Google announced they will start encoding YouTube videos in VP9, an open source video coding software, developed by Google. VP9 provides quality streaming, including HD and 4K videos, at half the bandwidth.

With video comprising over half of all internet traffic, a 50% bandwidth reduction is a substantial improvement.

VP9 is currently supported in the Chrome browser and on Android devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S6, Sony TVs and console games from Sony, LG, Sharp and more.

Based on previous video codecs, this open source software prioritizes the sharpest image features and uses asymmetric transforms, to provide an exceptional video experience at lower bandwidths.

Although Windows 10 will be released with a completely new browser, Internet Explorer will not be totally erased from view. Windows 10 will include both browsers, to help those businesses using legacy systems that still require “…technologies designed only for Internet Explorer, such as custom ActiveX controls and Browser Helper Objects,” according to Jason Weber, program manager of Internet Explorer.

But much like Zune and Microsoft Bob, Internet Explorer’s days are numbered.

Microsoft has struggled for years to deal with the poor public perception of Internet Explorer, with little effect. Research has shown that having Microsoft as part of a brand name, increases its appeal, so expect the new web browser name to include the word Microsoft. This is all part of Microsoft’s bigger strategy to have people fall in love with Windows all over again.

Look for the Windows 10 launch sometime during the summer of 2015.

Per the Kickstarter blog, Amazon discontinued the payment processing product being used, and Kickstarter reviewed other payment processing options before deciding on Stripe.

While this is good news for Stripe, the change leaves us wondering about the future of Amazon Payments and Paypal, two stable online payment processing services. With new products such as Apple Pay entering the market, is this a sign of the times that Paypal and Amazon Payments will one day go the way of MySpace?

Some of the benefits of Stripe include easier checkout for donors with fewer steps and no website redirect for payment, and project creators do not need to setup an Amazon Payments business account to get started.

Stripe is currently the payment processing system used by Twitter and Facebook, putting Kickstarter in good company.

Who does this affect?

The Justice Department has proposed rules that all government websites, down to the state and local level, must be ADA compliant. As the Act also applies to public accommodations, the Department of Justice is expected to rule in the future that public websites also fall under “public accommodations” and therefore are required to be ADA compliant.

The ADA applies to businesses with fifteen or more employees, yet designing and developing websites that are ADA compliant is good business regardless of company size. Some courts have been ruling in favor of requiring websites to be ADA compliant, as in the cases against Target and Netflix (the Netflix case was the first ADA ruling that applies to internet-only based businesses).

Websites without assistive technology can be as much of a barrier to access as buildings which are not ADA compliant. By creating websites that are accessible to those with disabilities, businesses have the potential to tap into an entirely new customer base and gain new business, while limiting liability. Plus, fairness and equality in and of itself a good thing. Now is the time to get ahead of the game and add ADA compliance to your web design tool belt.

Until the rules for ADA compliance are finalized, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued recommendations for website accessibility: http://webaim.org/standards/508/checklist.

Here are a few mistakes that small business owners can do when it comes time to start putting together a new website.

1. Take the time to learn your target market.  Instead of putting the primary focus on getting a website posted as fast as possible, take the time to learn who would want to use or buy your service or product.  From there you will be able to think of a better design.
2. A web design that is too flashy or busy.  The goal for the ideal website is for visitors to be able to find what they are seeking within three minutes.  Also, you will need to take into consideration visitors that use their mobile devices to view websites.  A busy website will be too hard to view.
3. What do customers do next?  Many websites are informative, but there is no direction.  A website needs to tell the customer where to go next if they want the service or product.  Purchasing the product or service, contact us, or subscribe to a newsletter?  Have a destination for your potential customers.
4. Do homework before hiring someone to design a small business website.  Have an idea of a budget and understand you get what you pay for.  If you pay very little for your site, you might expect just that.
5. Don’t get complacent.  Your site needs to have fresh content and have weekly changes.  When a website stays the same for long periods of time, people get bored and lose interest.

To avoid these common mistakes always take your time and realize that rushing and doing to many things yourself can be harmful.  A good website is put together in time and it has all of the necessary research completed to ensure the site is fluid and functioning.

Flat design consists of a few key components that make this design so simplified.

Here are a few awesome features to look forward too! 

WordPress also takes great pride in making sure Parker is also tailored to each user.  New perks such as eight new admin color schemes make it fun using your dashboard.  Also, choosing a new theme is better than ever.  Widget management used to be complicated, but now it’s a simple “drag” or a “scroll” and you have a handle on your widgets.

The leader for this new release is Matt Mullenweg.  There were also 188 contributors adding to the release of Parker 3.8.

One of the biggest changes for GoDaddy will be the website. Under Blake’s supervision and management, the site will appear less technical. That can be huge for people that don’t have the technical background for websites and design. This new look will be appealing for small business owners and marketers. With GoDaddy’s new look, the Media Temple website will be able to cater to more of a technical type of audience. The new appearances will be able to compliment both sites well, and make the overall experience for the user better.

Another big surprise about the acquisition is the fact that Media Temple will be operated as a separate company, and will not be integrated into GoDaddy. Any discounts and coupons will not be interchangeable between the two companies. Virb is a website builder acquired by Media Temple in 2012 will not be included in this deal. The original founders/investors will be purchasing Virb.

The new changes for Media Temple and GoDaddy are going to be new and exciting. With a bright new management team and an infusion of cash, GoDaddy is proving to be a fierce leader in technology and interactive with new improvements for both its existing customers and new customers. The information and data provided can be found at www.smallbiztrends.com.